PYP Exhibition

Mentor Booklet

2017-2018

2013
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The PYP Exhibition
The PYP exhibition creates opportunities for students to:
 engage in an in-depth, collaborative inquiry
 demonstrate independence and responsibility
 explore an idea or issue from multiple perspectives
 synthesises and apply learning from previous years
 demonstrate how learning can lead to personal action for
effective change
 celebrate the transition of learners from Primary to
Secondary School

The Exhibition process

The inquiry process in the Exhibition begins from inquiring into the
student’s own passions and wonderings and making connections to
the outside world. Our students identify those passions and interests
that are personally meaningful, explore ideas through the
transdisciplinary themes and make further connections to the global
community. Throughout their journey, students will be reflecting and
making meaning. The idea is that the exhibition will be more than a
culminating task. It will be a significant and relevant culminating
experience, which is connected to the issues in the hearts of the
individuals involved.

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Explore the Transdisciplinary Themes

Explore within the

community

Explore within one’s own

life

Personal interests, issues,

wonderings

Personal interests, issues,

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wonderings
The Exhibition Stages

The Exhibition process has started with our PYP 8 students! They
began their inner journey into their wonderings and passions. All
students explored the 6 transdisciplinary themes and from that
raised issues that they felt passionate about it. Students were
grouped by topics (interest) and started to pose questions and
personal ideas to start their inquiry. Throughout their journey,
students will be reflecting and making meaning. Have a look at the
table below for a timeline of the whole exhibition process.

Calendar and Key Dates

Dates In school process Parent’s support

October Tuning In - What moves you

16th

November Narrowing down ideas

6th Creating lists of related concepts
and matching our ideas
Writing a central idea

November Create a bank of resources with

16th to the school
December
8th

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November PYPx – Information Meeting with
23rd Parents
Sharing process so far and setting
expectations

February Explore bank of resources - select

5th to an issue, related concept and key
March concepts that connects. (forming
2nd groups)

February Writing lines of inquiry (2-3)

26th

March 5th Finding Out and Sorting out Support students in

to March Refining our central idea, lines of finding books or other
16th inquiry and guiding questions resources at home.
Setting goals for research.

Researching in primary and

secondary sources. Support students in
finding primary sources.

Analysis and synthesis of Support students in

information gathered during the organizing ideas and
inquiry period thoughts.

March Sorting out Support students in

16th to Students will revisit their inquiry organizing ideas and
March questions to decide if they still making connections.
23rd need to go further.

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March Drawing conclusions Support students in stating
16th to Work on final written piece the big ideas about their
March Exhibition
23rd

March Planning and taking Action Support students in

26th to selecting their course of
April 20th action and justifying their
reasoning.

April 16th Planning our Presentation Support students in their

to April Preparing how best to
27th communicate the process and
new understandings
Final rehearsals and visuals
presentation skills
Guiding pupils to think
about the presentation of
their inquiry and action

May 8th - Exhibition week Support and celebrate

May 11th Share our new learning and their achievements
growth to the community

May 2nd - Final Reflection and Self Help pupils to reflect on

May 4th Assessment their experience

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The Purpose and Role of a Mentor
A mentor…
 Provides an opportunity for students to experience working with

another adult in the school, outside of the familiar role of

“teacher and student”;
 Meets at least once a week with the group which he or she is
guiding. As the exhibition date gets closer mentors might want to
meet with their group more often.
 Offers support and encouragement throughout the process, e.g.

suggests/provides resources, asks questions, helps to interpret

difficult information, facilitates interviews/telephone calls, offers
suggestions for action, assists with focus to topic/central idea, and
helps with organization.
 Documents all meetings: completes the mentor feedback form

and jots down notes.

 Shares information regularly with the teacher regarding the

progress of the group and any related concerns.

 Helps the group set deadlines and holds them accountable.
 Joins the students in celebrating their exhibition experiences at

the conclusion of the process.

 Supports the group in their reflection of the Exhibition.

What is NOT my role as a mentor? What should I NOT

do?

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· Do not do the work for them.
· Do not leave the school with your student(s) without written consent
from the parents, teachers, and Head of Primary.
· It is not your role to tell students the direction to take, but instead, ask
probing questions to help guide their inquiry.
· Do not provide unreasonable access to materials or resources. We want
all students to be given the same opportunities.
· Do not hesitate to ask PYP8 teachers and Assistant Head of Primary
for help. This should be a wonderful experience for you and the pupils!

A Model Meeting

A meeting could look like this:

10 Review what the students have done

Review
minutes since you last met.
Moving the Help them to synthesize and make sense
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process of information they have gathered, OR
minutes
forward discuss possible next steps.
10 Problem What do they find difficult about the
minutes solving process? What are they struggling with?

Students’ Expectations with their Mentors

Things to discuss:
 the status/progress of the work-“THIS IS WHERE WE ARE…”
 the next step-“THIS IS WHAT WE WANT TO DO…”
 questions – “ WE AREN’T SURE ABOUT…”

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  where to get information from – “WHO SHOULD WE TALK TO?
WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE TO FIND THE INFORMATION WE
NEED?”
 ideas – “WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT…”

*** The mentor should be able to link students’ ideas with the
Central Idea, key concepts and lines of inquiry. If they can’t,
students need to make it clear.***

Communicating with Teachers

Keeping teachers “in the loop” is essential so that they can also
support what you’re doing with your group.
Please remember to collect the Mentor’s meeting notes (or have a
member of the group bring them to your meeting) and fill them in
appropriately.
The form will ask you to provide feedback on:
 The next tasks/goals to be accomplished
 General topics discussed
 Other comments (progress, behavior, participation,
concerns)

Assessment

The exhibition is an opportunity to assess students’ performance and

understanding throughout the PYP. Both students and teachers use
rubrics and a variety of assessment tools to assess both process and
product throughout the exhibition.

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Mentors will be asked for feedback throughout the process in order
to support assessments. You will be asked to use some rubrics
throughout the process. Please support your group in their self-
assessment using the provided tools.

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Formative Assessment (Process)
Group Skills
Information Relevance and Organization
Reflection
Research
Students willSkills
be assessed according to:
Self-Management
Summative Assessment
Formative Assessment (Product)
(Process)
 Group
Written Work Skills
 Board
Display Information Relevance and Organization
 Reflection
Multimedia
 Research Skills
Oral Presentation
 Self-Management
oup Skills
Summative Assessment (Product)
Information
 Written Relevance
Work and Organization
Reflection
 Display Board
 Multimedia
Research Skills
 Oral
Self-Management Presentation
Summative Assessment (Product)
Written Work
Display Boards
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Multimedia
Oral Presentation
Mrs. Weber, Mr. Hurst, Mr. Peterson, Mr. Cury, Mrs. Vieira, Mrs.
Art Installation
Feldman, Mrs. Amorim, Mrs. Vaz, Mrs. Alves, Mrs. Montesano, Mrs.
Pires.

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Trouble Shooting
FAQs from past mentors:
Problems Solutions
Talk to the teacher. While encouragement
My students are not and a firm word from you should do the trick,
meeting their deadlines! teachers have to know these things to assess
and, if needed, solve the problem.
Again the teacher will step in if needed to
I can’t be there for a
keep the kids on track. You also may have a
meeting.
mentoring partner, who can help you.
My group needs
intervention from me, but I It’s a tough balance. Of course, consult with
know it’s supposed to be the teacher, but as a general rule, there is no
their job…where’s the fault in voicing your opinion.
balance?
We can ask a parent from the group to take
My group wants to go on a the students, but we need the Head of
field trip; how can I make Primary authorization first if during school
that happen? time. Class teachers are responsible for
making these arrangements.
Feedback from mentors is essential. In
written form, mentors will comment on the
What do I have to assess?
group’s organization, teamwork, and
Do I have to assess?
application of knowledge and skill to each
task.
My group needs to
All requests for projects should go through
purchase some things. Do
the teacher and will be analyzed.
we have a budget?

If you have any further doubts or questions please contact any of the
class teachers and/or the Assistant Head any time.

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 Mentor Meeting Record Sheet
Mentor: Date:
Weekly Focus

Goals of the Meeting

Group Meeting Checklist 1 2 3 4 Meeting Notes

Ready for the meeting

Punctuality

Communicative

Share work equally

Positive Attitude

Active Listening

Next steps Done

Name members

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